THE LITTLE STRANGER: Repression Casts An Intriguing Spell

In many ways, defying genre convention is a hassle for those on the back end of a film. It’s a hassle for advertisers who must succinctly sell a movie. It’s a hassle for audiences trying to decide what film they’re in the mood for. And yes, it’s a hassle for critics who must tap dance around plot descriptions without giving too much away.

Because of this, movies that weave between familiar storylines often get lost to time. Less people see films that are confusingly marketed, leaving less people to sing the praises of those that get the balancing act right. Hopefully that’s not what’s in store for The Little Stranger, which has a little bit of a lot of different genres and deserves heaps of praise.

All the elements present in Little Stranger would be laborious to list, so suffice to say that there’s some period drama, some romance, and a smidge of horror. If you’re looking for what goes bump in the night, then you’ll be in good company. All of the characters are asking that very thing, and the film is more interested in the question than the answer. Some viewers will find this frustrating; others will revel in the swings from the mundane to the supernatural. Whatever your reaction, it’s undeniably dense, leaving you with plenty of ways to get invested.

A Sense of Place

Like many atmospheric films before it, Little Stranger takes place at a rather distinctive estate, one that invites the worn phrase that the setting is a character itself. We are told that Hundreds Hall has been in the Ayres family for decades and was once a lavish, enviable fixture of the area. But this is post-WWII Britain, and the tides have turned against old wealth. The home has fallen into disrepair and the remaining family members, it seems, are disintegrating along with it.

It’s a fine setting for a moody, character-driven thriller, one that restricts and oppresses all that venture into its dank corridors. Like in his previous film, Room, director Lenny Abrahamson uses the space to drum up unnerving contradictions. Through the eyes of young Jack, the titular room was expansive and joyous, but the audience knew it was a prison. Here, we see much of the large estate but never seem able to escape it. It is a vortex with many makers, the combined pull of which is too much to overcome.

Leading us into the quagmire is Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson), a local doctor who takes a shine to the surviving daughter of the Ayres clan, Caroline (Ruth Wilson). Faraday’s medical bag gives him the authority to diagnose the compounding maladies of the estate’s occupants, but it doesn’t make him immune to the home’s power. The film tips us off to his increasing obsession with some immaculate sound design – creaks, groans, and whispering drafts varying in volume dependent on his state of mind. Faraday is our narrator, but the question of whether he or the house (or the unseen occupants) are really in control is what drives the film.

Pick Your Own Adventure

The mystery at its center is given many possible explanations, with screenwriter Lucinda Coxon layering them one on top of the other in scenes that have no explicit connection to the occult. Considering this is adapted from the book of the same name, I assume the deliberate style was lifted from its source, and it translates into the most enthralling aspect of the film.

When examining claims of ghost or poltergeist activity, one must also examine the people making the claims to rule out more practical stressors. That’s what Faraday does throughout the film, diagnosing head of the household Roderick (an excellent and finally not villainous Will Poulter) with what we now call PTSD and dismissing the matriarch of the family (a criminally underused Charlotte Rampling) as having misplaced grief over her long-dead eldest daughter. Explanations for other people’s behavior are revealed through teatime chats and the pervasive gossip of a small town, giving the film the appearance of emphasizing period drama over its more pulpy aspects.

What this is really doing is inviting the viewer to make notes and sort out the puzzle for ourselves, particularly when it becomes clear that our narrator may not be as level-headed as he appears. None of this is easy when five or six possibilities are being dangled in front of you, and the viewer will likely lean towards their own pet fears when deciding what’s really happening.

The film is refreshingly opaque enough to leave multiple interpretations open, and while this does lead to a bit of an anti-climactic ending, it allows your own perceptions to gnaw at you long after you’ve left the theater. This is a purposeful move, one built on a variety of well-drawn themes running throughout the film.

Depth Of Fear

None of this meticulous construction would matter, though, if the bumps in the night were just vermin. Truly rattling fear needs to be supported by something larger, and Little Stranger weaves in nearly every hot-button issue to give this period piece some modern chills.

To say this will generate think pieces is almost laughably easy to predict. From the class upheaval that mirrors Brexit to the man clumsily wielding power over a woman, all of the aforementioned possibilities are rooted in squirm-inducing topics. Tamp it all down with the repressive culture of post-war Britain and its understandable why the film lingers instead of jolts. Forgetting about the potential ghost is fine when your sidebar is about the jealous frustration of a man or the hobbled walk of a war veteran. It’s all hinting at other, no less sinister explanations for madness, ones we still haven’t found a resolution for.

Those tired of people stretching to relate films and TV shows to issues of the moment should take articles about The Little Stranger seriously; it’s all been tied in quite purposefully, and the angle with which a writer chooses to discuss the film will reveal as much about the author as it does the film.

The Little Stranger: A Rorschach Test For Anxiety

By giving the viewer many possibilities but few answers, The Little Stranger is a demanding but absorbing thriller. It will not spoon feed you scares, and it’s all the better for it. Instead, it wheedles into your mind, unearths your paranoias, and forces you to sit with them for a couple hours. That’s what everyone’s looking for in a film, right?

What are some of your favorite mixed-genre films?

The Little Strangers is in theaters now in the US and will be released in the UK on September 21st, 2018. For international release dates, click here.